SoulBound Online
by AlexanT
Summary: Alexan was always a big gamer, although he preferred to keep to himself. Now he is stuck in the very thing he loves, forced to fight for his life virtually all alone in the world's very first VRMMORPG, SoulBound Online. ((AU - No cannon characters.))
1. Chapter 1: Test of Spirit

Chapter One: Test of Spirit

"Hmph, you think you can beat me?" The boy questioned me. We were surrounded in a beautiful yet simple landscape. It was a wide grassland with a tree showing up every so often. The ground was littered with a fair amount of flowers, all of them being in a large range of radiant colors. My HUD sight, however, was focused on the boy whom I was speaking with, showing his user-name was Drew. He looked up and down at me. "Alright then." He prodded his finger in the air, opening up a holographic menu. He prodded it a few more times before a message came up in front of me.

This message was a duel request, naturally I accepted it. I pulled my sword out from it's sheath. It was your basic European dual-edged longsword, nothing too special about it in appearance. The stats on the blade were fairly good for my level. "Ready?" I asked him, the counter from 25 on the clock began to tick.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask." He began. I rolled my eyes, I could already see what his question would be. "How many times have you died?" He had his eyebrow raised as he asked me this.

"I can't tell you how many when I started this game, probably almost a hundred." I told him. I saw him smirk. "But," I continued. "I've only died once since level 15. I'm level 47 now." His smirk was wiped clean off his face. "You don't seem so confident anymore."

The counter reached it's final moments. " Five, four, three, two..." The timer buzzed as the battle began.

"C'mon, I'll let you get the first move." I held my arm out, motioning my fingers to give a gesture that told him to come at me. He pulled out his own sword, a rapier. Naturally, he did as I said and ran at me holding up his blade. He thrusted forward, right towards my chest. I spun on the back of my right heel, narrowly avoiding his stab. I sent a slashed upwards his torso. Blood fell to the ground and a bright red gash appeared on his chest as the tip of my blade skidded up his body. I watched him stumble back. "Hmph, what's wrong?" I pushed myself forward and brought my sword down him, aiming to leave an "X" shape on his body. He brought his blade to stop mine, holding it over him. I spun one my heel yet again, bringing my foot to his side. He was sent tumbling to the ground after impact. About 15% of his health bar was gone.

I watched him come to a stand, he seemed quite different from moments before. I think angry would be an understatement, he seemed like he wanted to kill me. He darted at me with impressive speed. He had a crazy look in his eyes as he lunged his sword forwards yet again. I brought my sword upwards, easily knocking off the course of his attack. I moved forward, pushing his arm back even farther. I used the melee-skill "Crush" on my left hand and brought my fist to his abdomen. My hand glowed a bright yellow to indicate the skill was active. When it collided with him, he was sent tumbling into the ground.

His once green health bar was now orange as the duel ended. "What the hell was that?" I asked him. I managed to keep my cool, but on the inside I was completely flabbergasted by that fit of rage.

"How... could someone like you beat me?" He asked, still angry. That was one thing about many people I never understood. They could become fueled with rage over simplest things, while others refuse to let rage overcome them. "You're a one-handed sword user... Yet, you have no shield. And your amour is pathetic."

I sighed. I should have seen this coming. So many people had always criticized me for my equipment build. "The answer is quite simple, I'm better than you."

"Why you-..." I still don't get where such rage can come from, how it can erupt.

Suddenly, the sky became dark as a voice came over the area, the server's loudspeaker. "Thank you all that have attended the 'Back to Beta Day' for SoulBound Online. I hope this was a good chance for all of you Beta players to readjust to the game before it's official launch tomorrow. Be sure to expect new weapons, new skills, and the 'Soul' abilities." The lady-like voice stated. That all sounded neat, however, it didn't seem like I was going to change my roster, I think I'll be just fine with my current abilities. "All players will be logged out shortly, and we hope to see you tomorrow."

With that, I was brought to the character selection center. I looked at my character. He had quite a light tone to his skin, and his hair was black. It was quite long in the back, it almost reached his shoulders. He had a single bang hanging between his eyes, curving over so that it's tip would be under his left one. His eye were blue and gentle, yet serious at the same time. He had his sword in the sheath of his back. He was wearing basic leather Armour, just like you would see rouges wear in any other MMORPG. A basic torso, leggings, boots and vambraces. The user-name was "Slayer-Kun", the only character I created for this game.

I was never good at being a powerful warrior, like your typical knight in shining armour. I couldn't really use a shield, and metal armor slowed me down far too much. Maybe I'm weak? Maybe I'm not. But, I found the most strange set-up for my abilities. Using lightweight armor I could bring up my general speed, allowing me to be reactive and easily parry or evade attacks.

I found this to be ridiculously effective. The main reason something like this could work is because SoulBound is different from of MMORPGs not only because of the fact it's virtual reality, but because of the way stats work. They don't go up at a fixed rate, nor do you choose where to put them. They go up based on how you fight and what activities you do. If you tend to move quickly in battles, you'll increase your agility so that you may move even faster. Which was what I aimed for. If you tend to use heavier weapons in battle and wear heavy armour, you'll increase your strength. Also, when you leveled up, you would gain five points to the stat you worked hardest on during the previous level. The system made a good amount of sense, if you ask me.

I sighed, taking one last good luck at Slayer-Kun, sad that I won't see him when I logged on the next day. I supposed I could always remake him, but still...

A bright flash of light, I was completely ejected from the game. I was brought to the system "home" of my console. The console is a visor called the "Interceptor". This allowed me to access VRMMORPGs – Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games – the only one being out as of now is SoulBound Online. Rumors have gone around that two more games called Battlefield Online and Smoked Online are making announcements soon. I personally doubt this, but anything is possible I suppose.

After exiting the Home, I opened my eyes, lying in my bed. I placed the Interceptor on my desk and sat up on my bed. Today was Sunday, I was going have to deal with school tomorrow. Like most 15 year olds, the thought of it greatly upset me. I stood up in the middle of my dark bedroom, headed into the hallway and walked into the bathroom and flipped the light switch. It was fairly small and just about everything in it was white. The cabinets and mirror were to my left, I looked to it and saw my reflection. I was much unlike Slayer-Kun, with black hair, and dark skin. My bangs barely reached past my eyebrows, the back of my hair was cut short.

I shook my head before grabbing my tooth-brush and brushing my teeth. I was going to have a long day, so I needed to go to bed early. Considering that the game closed, it should be around 10PM, according to the website. It was a good time to head for bed anyways.

The next day, I felt pretty energized. I assumed it was because SoulBound would be officially open to everyone, along with the updates they all had promised us.

I walked the halls of my school with my friend, Sasha, she had also gotten the game. She was a year below me, but we were good friends. She wasn't a beta tester like me and she wasn't too experienced with online gaming in general. But, she'd will get the hang of it, just like I did.

"So, are you excited?" I asked her.

"Of course I am, Alex!" She replied. "Don't ask such silly questions," She teased. I stuck my tongue out at her in response. Naturally, she did the same.

I met Sasha through another friend, Tayler. Her and I met 3 years ago, during SoulBound's Closed-Beta. I don't think I could sum up our story very well, but lot's of crap has happened over that time, more than some people would be able to handle. But in the end, everything turned out alright. I hadn't talked to her all that recently, She wasn't on at Back-to-Beta-Day, maybe she didn't even buy the final product? Well, nonetheless, I'll have Sasha with me, and that should be enough.

I noticed a fair amount of our friends were absent from school, it left an ominous feeling for me. I wanted to think of it as nothing, and get home. Luckily, aside from these thoughts, the school day went along quickly. Next thing I knew, I was walking home with Sasha.

"I've never had a pupil before!..." I nodded to myself, entertaining the thought. "It's not going to be so easy for someone like me." I had always done things solo in video games, unless it absolutely required team-work.

"You don't sound too confident." She turned me, her gray eyes showing a little worry.

"Heh, I don't?..." I rubbed the back of my head. "Well, don't worry. We'll manage just fine." I assured her.

She gave me a smile, eyes closed. "Okay, if you say so."

I returned the smile, as we continued to talk. I don't remember what much of the conversation was about, but it wasn't anything notable, just one of our usual talks that honestly could be about anything.

I saw her off as she entered her house, she was going to try out the games the moment she entered her room, she told me. I had the same intentions. As I walked home, I wondered what I would do for my new character. I thought about recreating Slayer-Kun, as I had always planned, but much unlike yesterday, no emotion came to mind when I thought about it. As if the countless hours I spent on his persona never happened. I just didn't feel like being Slayer-Kun anymore.

This was more annoying than strange however. I rubbed the back of my head from the thought of it. I never performed well in things I didn't prefer, and recreating Slayer-Kun didn't seem all the preferable to me.

I still wanted to play the game however. I was sure something would come to me as I would create a character, or at least, I hoped it would.

My dad wasn't home when I arrived, leaving the entire house to myself. I went right up to my room and grabbed my Interceptor. I plopped on my bed before putting it on. I simply closed my eyes, as the console interacted with my brain-waves, sending me into the digital world.

I was portrayed as humanoid form of bright white like as I was in the "Home". It resembled an old PlayStation 3 Home, the surrounding area a vast endless sea of changing color with floating icons. I prodded the CD icon labeled "SoulBound Online" and with a flash of bright light, I was taken into a platform, surrounded by a wondrous garden with various flowers and towering willow trees.

"Character Creation," I said. A person with randomized features appeared in front of me, a template to edit and create my character. I, unfortunately, still didn't know what I wanted. I probably spent a good twenty minutes before I could make any progress what-so-ever. I may very well have gone through at least several hundred possible character creations. I hadn't found a single interesting one, until now.

I almost had prodded the "Randomize" button, purely out of reflex. I'm glad I didn't, although the character wasn't exactly up to par with what I wanted, it was getting there. The skin was fairly dark, much like mine. It had facial features quite like mine, only it had a somewhat serious vibe to it. The hair was long, like a girl's, and red. The eyes were hazel.

At that moment, I figured out what I wanted. I wanted to be me. I felt that's how should be, rather than just be another character. I made the hair shorter, much like mine and turned it black. However, there was one thing I wanted to change, my eye color. I made the eyes for my character green, since I had a liking for the color.

You'd normally think dark skin and green eyes wouldn't go together, but they went quite nicely with each other. Or at least, if you asked me, they would.

Now was for the bigger challenge, my name. I was sure that "Alex" would be too mainstream, for lack of a better word. So, of course, I had to spend another ridiculous amount of time for choosing the name as well, I unfortunately failed to come up with anything good.

"Slayer-Kun," I muttered to myself after a while. "Alex." I mumbled the two names under my breath for an extended period of time. "Slayex... Kalex, Alex-kun..." I paused after my last mutter of a name. "Alex-kun, I like that..." I decided to enter the name in the toolbar, mostly out of desperation for a name, but naturally, it was already taken. "Damn..."

It was back to the drawing board, I decided to highlight the entire name, and start all over. However, not being the most graceful person, I failed. I only highlighted the "-k", it being deleted afterwards, I was left with Alexun.

I shook my head at the name, "It could work... but it's rather ugly..." I told myself. "Alex-uun..." I began to play with the name. "Alex-un... Alexon..." It could have used a little refining. "Alexan?"...

I had my hand beneath my chin, my index finger and thumb having a grip upon it. My indecisive nature for the past hour finally broke. I felt confident in my new customization. "Character Confirm!" I stated firmly, as everything began a blank.

Once I opened my eyes, I was brought into the world of Rei. I had spawned into the beginner's town, known as Hajime. The town square was massive, with various venders and merchants littering the area. The ground was paved using red bricks, the building around me towered I looked down at my hand, clenching it into a fist as I smirked.

"Feels good," I muttered to myself. It felt so nostalgic, I felt so energized. I was over-come with joy. I went right into action, accepting my first quest.

The task was quite simple, after going through a typical dialogue scene, I had to kill some troublesome thieves camping not too far from the town, and bring back their weapons for the town's supplies. I equipped my starter sword, it was short with a basic European design, very little effort appeared to be put into making the blade.

I found it somewhat hard to fight the thieves using my my typical battle style with quick attacks and constant evasion, but I managed in the end. I was sure it was only because my stats were lower. Through my battling, I met someone. I noticed something funny that they did to the system, my HUD sight no longer allowed me to view players' names and levels. I was also only given a rough estimate of what their health currently was.

"So, what's your name?" I asked him, sitting down on a rock to take a rest.

"Name's Aaron," he told me. His frosty blue eyes examined me. "And you?"

"Alexan," I replied. I watched him stand up, he had the two-handed starter's sword. It was almost as skinny as mine, but had at least a three and a half foot range. It's sheath was only two straps attached to his clothing which the blade would be put in.

"You ready for another go?" He asked me.

"Heh, I'd love to. But, I have to do something." I needed to log off, and text Sasha my user-name. If she had been waiting for me since I started playing, chances were she had become extremely impatient with me.

Aaron nodded at me as I swiped my right hand downwards, opening up the game's holographic main menu. I blinked in surprise to see a very important button missing. "Heh, that's not good." I stated nervously. Aaron shot a look at me, an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong?" He asked me.

"... The logout option isn't here."

He blinked at me, before going to open up his own menu. He stared at in complete disbelief as I saw him scroll, prod, and go basically frantic over the menu. He closed it out, glancing at me. "It's really not there..." He told me.

"Maybe... it's a glitch?" This still put me at great discomfort, considering that this is a big overlook.

"All player will be teleported to Hajime Town square shortly." This was the server's automated loudspeaker. Naturally, what was said was done. Next thing I knew, I was standing in the town square, just like I was a good twenty minutes ago.

A hologram appeared in the sky, a man with snow white hair, and pale eyes seemed to stand above us. "I am Tadakiro Tanaka, as most of you know. The creator of Rei, the creator of SoulBound Online." He stated, putting a large smirk on his face after. "I'm sure that you all have realized that the logout feature is missing. This is not a glitch of any kind, it is fully intentional. All of you, all 8,211 of you, will be part of my little game. You must clear both of the continent's of Rei, each with 88 bosses."

My eyes widened in disbelief. I had heard that only a hand full of people made it to the second island of Rei, much less defeat all 176 bosses. Was he being serious?

"All of those who die from now on, will not be respawned. Due this, your Interceptor's will forcibly cancel brain activity, causing you to die in real life." He explained. "That is all," His smirk seemed to grow bigger. "Live, if you have the will to. I wish you all the best of luck. Let the game begin!" He simply just disappeared from the sky at that moment. He didn't come back for quite the while.

People began to talk amongst themselves in disbelief. I couldn't believe it myself either. We were really stuck here? To live in a game?... And... Sasha... How will she manage?! What if she's killed off in the chaos?

The very thought drove me insane, to think I had practically killed my best friend? "Sasha!" I screamed. "SASHA! Where are you!?" I pushed through the crowd, but I got no results. I went into a panic attack, my vision beginning to fade and began to hyperventilate. "Sasha..."

I felt a hand being placed on my shoulder, giving me a sense of reality once more. I looked behind me, to see Aaron. It wasn't anywhere as relieving as seeing Sasha, but...

"Alexan, calm down." He had a cold sweat forming on his face, even he was nervous about our situation. "Just because we're in a pinch..." he paused, taking a deep breath. "Just because we're in a pinch, doesn't mean this is the time to start being a lunatic. We must stay calm if we wish to live." He was right, but in the end of it all, I wasn't worried about myself, I was worried about her.

"We should hand in the quest as an incomplete, and head to one of the upper-level towns." I nodded at him, actually starting to calm down. My vision was becoming clear once more.

After getting out of the crowds of people, we were at the outskirts of the town. "I'm heading for the next town, Kazeogawa." I told him.

He nodded at me before replying, "Get there quick, I won't be joining you however."

"Why not?"

"That place is going to get crowded soon, I'm going to head for more of a challenge." He told me. "I'm heading east to Umibe." He held out his hand, "Good luck to you, Alexan."

I took his hand and shook it, "Don't die, Aaron."

"I don't plan on it." He let go, before walking off.

As I watched him walk, I came to a conclusion. A conclusion to be come strong. No matter what obstacles I would have to face for this new lie, I'd overcome them. I darted towards the next town, my resolve stated.

Don't die. Save Sasha. Get home.


	2. Chapter 2: The Girl With The Pink Hair

Chapter Two: The Girl With the Pink Hair

A week had passed, since the day that the "game" had begun. I had recently gotten word that the first boss was found roaming the ruins of an abandoned village not too far away. Everyone was making preparations to face the upcoming event, mustering up any money or resources they possibly could in order to make it through with no causalities.

Something about this all bothered me however. The Interceptor could be removed at any given time, with no damage to a person's nervous system. So, why haven't any of us been safely ejected from the game?

I was sitting on a large boulder, looking out into the distance. The area was a vast plain region with aggressive wild life roaming about. Not to far behind me laid the village of Kazeogawa, which was basically my starting point for all this madness. I'm level 18 now, I was level one when I first came here. Even doing something as simple as this was hard to keep dying from, but I sure did a hell a lot better now than I did in the beta. It was partially thanks to a new skill in the game, "Dual Wielding". Between my proficiency in agility and the fact I could hold two swords, I basically doubled my damage output.

I sighed as I stood up and walked back to the village. I was still in the same armour that I wore when I first got here, due to the fact resources were limited and relatively useless in the first providence of Rei. We needed to defeat the boss in order to move on to the next area. I was a thin tin breastplate, that was over a black long sleeved T-shirt. My shoes and pants were nothing special, also being black. The only things that had changed about my set-up were a new skill and two swords that were still barely on par with my level.

As I entered the village, I noticed that just about everyone with a weapon seemed to be scrambling about. There was an outdoor theater that had been long abandoned in the middle of the village, everyone seemed to be headed there. Naturally, I followed the countless swordsmen who went there.

There was a man who looked like a typical knight. He had decent sized kitesheild and unlike most of us here, a proficient weapon, a long sword that was actually long. His armour wasn't anything too special, but considering nobody in the area was any higher than level 13, it was actually a sight to behold. It was the most basic iron armor set you could imagine, but when you're at the mercy of limited, pitiful resources, you can hardly beg, much less choose.

The man had had long brown hair, much like the hair Slayer-Kun had. He began to spoke, "Looks like just about everyone is here." I looked around, seeing there was a good 50 people there, probably more. "Let us begin, shall we? My name is Touten, I'm a Tank."

A Tank, a person that typically has high defense with an incredible Hit Point or HP count, this meant he could take a beating from most monsters, even bosses. I was a sustained ADCarry, an attack damage carrier, meaning I could deal large amounts of damage in short amounts of time. This was the best combination for a party, but we were going to need something a bit bigger than a normal party for this.

"We have discovered the first boss in an abandoned village not too far away. It has been identified as 'Takera the Werewolf'," Touten began to explain. "The boss will be surrounded by a large amount of normal class wolves, which levels range from three to seven. The boss does not seem to have any special abilities aside from the fact it's attack pattern will change dramatically when it's health bar turns red." Naturally, I knew all of this because I was a beta tester. But my knowledge wouldn't help me for long, even when I hit level 57 in the beta, we had only beaten 21 of the bosses. Luckily, the game didn't have a level cap, so you could indefinitely get stronger.

"This will without a doubt be the easiest battle in the game, but that does not mean we can let our guard down or be reckless. Now, since this is a legitimate boss fight, we will need to form raid parties, you will indefinitely die without sharing the agro." The maximum party size for a raid was eight people. The people around us seemed to quickly move together, forming groups ranging from six to eight. I quickly realized that my preferences of being solo was going to make this game a lot harder than it already was, I had never really made any friends in the beta and Sasha was still nowhere to be found.

I looked around, a bit panicked. Just about everyone had been bunched into groups, except for one person. He stood at the opposite side of the theater and didn't even seem like he was trying to find a party. However, being left with no other options I went towards him.

"Well, everyone else seems to be in a stable party," I muttered. The guy looked towards me, his orange hair falling over his eyes, which resembled my own greatly. "Um, mind if I get in one with you?"

He blinked at me before answering, "Well, alright. I can squeeze you in." He told me.

"Squeeze me in?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I came to this briefing to inform my brother and fiance the situation, I was going to make my party with them." He explained. I was somewhat surprised when he said "fiance", he couldn't have possibly been anymore than a year older than I was.

"Oh, I won't intrude will I?" I laughed a bit nervously.

"Of course not. I won't lie, I'm not the best with working at teams, but you gotta do what you gotta do." He opened up his display, pushing some of the buttons before a message came up in front of me. It asked me to join his party.

Naturally, I accepted his invite. "Your name?"

He looked to his side, "Ah, right. Well, my name is Hotako." He rubbed the back of his head.

"You're all dismissed, we will hunt the beast tomorrow." Touten told us all. When I looked out into the landscape, I noticed that the sun had already begun to set.

"C'mon, I'll introduce you," Hotako offered.

"Eh? Introduce me?" I blinked a few times.

"I insist," he smiled at me. "And, the Inn is on me."

I laughed quietly again, "Yeah, sure."

So, I followed Hotako to the inn, and I checked in with him. "And of course, you'll be sleeping in the same room as my brother." He stated casually. Of course I was, if I was in a bed with my fiance at night, I wouldn't want another person in the same room.

The Kazeogawa Inn was a fairly large building. Mostly made of wood, it was very simple yet appealing. We walked up the stairs which creaked quietly, my hand was streaking across the cold white stone, which hit a wooden beam every now and then.

It was only two immediate right turns until we found our room, and immediately I was overwhelmed by a smell I hadn't experienced in over a week. Food cooking. Another person, who seemed to be Hotako's age. He sat on the bed lazily and leaned forward. His arms rested across his opened legs. The eyes just under his jet black bangs were a blood crimson color. His facial features seemed match Hotako's flawlessly.

"Oh? You brought a friend?" He asked, looking right at me.

"I did, he offered to help our party in the boss fight tomorrow." Hotako told him. "This is Alexan. Alexan, this is my brother Tadashi."

"It's nice to meet you," I told him.

"Nice to meet you too," He stood up, being much taller than I expected. He was taller than both Hotako and I. He walked over to me and extended his arm out, expecting me to shake his head. I did so, smiles appearing on both of our faces.

As our handshake broke Hotako spoke, "Ah, Nikota's cooking." There was delight in his voice as he moved to the open doorway.

Tadashi followed in after him, which made me feel a bit awkward, I had never been forced to thoroughly be introduced to people like this in a game. But, then again, I had never been in a video game which threatened my life.

To the immediate left of the hallway I entered was the doorway to the kitchen, I poked my head in cautiously to see what was going on.

I saw the new character, Nikota, she had a rather petite figure with a cheerful face and wide, blue eyes. Her long pink hair would flow as she turned. She wore an apron over a simple yellow summer dress. She held several platters of food in her hands with ease before placing them on the table. Something about her seemed awfully familiar, emphasis on "awfully". Despite her cheerful look, it was almost haunting to look at her.

She looked to me, "Oh? You must be Hotako's new friend." she said. I almost jumped when she spoke to me, like I hadn't expected her to speak to me.

I tried not to make eye contact, "R-right," I stuttered as I stepped into the kitchen. Tadashi and Hotako had already sat down. Nikota, however walked right up to me, smiling softly. "You're not used to company, are you?"

I was basically forced to look at her now, and I quickly understood why I couldn't bring myself to look at her face. The wide lively eyes she had, the warm smile she wore, they looked just like Sasha's. I felt my heart skip a beat right before it gained a sinking feeling. I don't know why, but I put on a fake smile.

"Heh, yeah," I rubbed the back of head, trying to make my smile as realistic as possible. "I'm not used to such interaction with people in games." She looked at me, her expression turning blank. She blinked at me a few times. I began to wonder if my act had failed, I began to feel warm and nervous.

She laughed softly afterwards, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's very understandable. Don't worry we don't bite." she assured me. She moved over to the table, "C'mon."

The food Nikota had prepared was quite amazing, I haven't had decent food in the longest time, I usually ordered out or grabbed something out of the freezer when I was back in the real world because my dad had always been at work. Since I've been stuck in Rei, all I've had for the past week was break and overcooked wolf meat over a fire. There was soup, vegetables indigenous to our current area, and whole bunch of other stuff that – I won't lie, I had no idea what they were – seemed delicious.

Although the food was good, it didn't taste as good as it should have. The wonderful flavors were all tainted by blandness. I couldn't even pay attention to the conversation going on in front of me, I managed time to fake laughs at their appropriate moments but I was truly in distress. When dinner ended, I was relieved in all honesty. I was offered sleep in Tadashi's room, but I insisted to sleep on the couch which was in the living room connecting to the kitchen.

I wanted to be alone.

I never had a reason to not be in a party or guild, however, this experience gave me a good reason to. If I had to feel like this every time I saw a girl that reminded me of Sasha, I wouldn't be able to function.

The smell of Nikota's cooking still lingered in the air. My mind wandered, as if I had nothing to think about. Yet, when I would actually try and sleep, I couldn't think about anything else but Sasha.

What if she's dead? What if it's my fault? If I had never bought this game, neither her or I would be in danger. We wouldn't have to fight for our lives. These were all thoughts that tormented me, just like the moment I realized this wasn't a game anymore. My heart felt heavy, I wanted to cry.

I sat up on the couch, arms resting on my thighs as I leaned forward. I let out a deep sigh, "I'm not going to get any sleep tonight am I?" I muttered to myself.

"Maybe you just need say what's on your mind," that was Nikota's voice. I turned my head, to see her leaning against the doorway.

"H-how long have you been there?" I asked her, stunned.

"Just got here now," she told me. "But, I could hear you mumbling from my room. I'm a light sleeper you know."

My eyes widened, "Wha-?.. What did you hear?!" I was thinking out loud the entire time!?

"Don't get so excited. I couldn't really hear anything you were saying." I sighed in relief from her statement. She came over to me and sat down next to me on the couch. "You miss someone, don't you?"

"Wha?..." Nikota, she was truly full of surprises.

"When you first saw me, you looked at me the exact same way Hotako looked at me when we had our reunion. Those were the eyes of finally finding someone you love."

I felt my cheeks burn as my heart skipped a beat. "Eh?! I'm not in love with you!"

"That's obvious," She smiled lightly, giggling. "I'm an engaged woman, I'm sure you're smarter than that." I groaned quietly. "But, I remind you of someone you love, don't I?"

"I'm not in love with her either!" I stated a bit louder than I would have liked.

"That's twice you've had the exact same reaction."

"Eh?..."

"I never said you had to be IN love with that person, there just had to be love."

My face burned even more, in fact, the feeling went down to my neck. "Wha!? You made it sound like..." I groaned again, feeling a bit defeated.

"That's adorable." she continued to giggle, "But you do miss her, don't you?" I looked at her, before my eyes went to the floor. "You can't give up hope you know."

"...What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about."

I was silent for a small moment before speaking my mind. "What if she's dead? It's my fault..."

"Alexan, you can't blame yourself. None of us knew we'd be trapped here."

I placed my hands over my knees, "That's not an excuse for killing someone!" I curled them into fists, tightly gripping my pants. I felt myself begin to tremble.

"It's not your fault!" I blinked, my trembling stopping. "If you doubt yourself like this, how will you even live to confirm your fears?!" I opened my mouth but words failed to come out. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in. She laid one hand on my cheek as the other side of my face laid on her chest. It was soft... "You have to believe in yourself, you know?"

The sinking feeling in my chest became heavier as I felt tears overwhelm me, falling down my cheeks.


	3. Chapter 3: Beater

Chapter Three: Beater

"Today is the day, huh?" I was leaning on the hallway wall, arms crossed.

"It is," Hotako told me. "Are you nervous?"

"Heh, hardly." Nikota and Tadashi joined Hotako and I in the hallway. "Infact," I smiled at Nikota, thankful for the reassurance she had given me. "I'm actually pretty excited."

I saw that a soft smile appeared on her face as well and Hotako shot a grin at me. "Good to hear."

With that, we were on our way back to the theater. We had met up with Touten and the various other players in the game. He only made a quick briefing of the plan before we were on our way to take down Takera.

I had noticed something somewhat unsettling though. I haven't seen Aaron ever since the start of all of this. It made me wonder how he was holding up, or if he was even alive.

As we walked, we had past a fairly small, spread out forest. There, I took note on what my teamates actually had in their arsenal. Tadashi's armor wasn't all that much better than mine, but he had a very large shield that seemed to have an impressive amount of weight to it and his sword wasn't half bad either. Nikota's armor seemed to be lightest of all of us, but she carried a war hammer on her back, nothing too primitive but nothing all that fancy. And finally, Hotako, had gear nearly identical to mine. Infact, he even had dual swords.

Many weapons and skills were often learned in books, even though the after-beta update seemed to imply otherwise for certain occasions. New weapons, and new skills; both passive and active. The increase in weapons and passive skills were notable, but I didn't see any new active skills. Nonetheless, as uncommon as the dual sword skill was, it could easily be learned via purchasing a skill book. In a game where you could die... and actually die in real life, people want to take the easy way out. Despite the great damage output and all of the advantages I saw with the dual wield skill, it was determined to be a high-difficulty fighting style. I had found that strange, since the single sword skill – which didn't even use a shield – was at a recommended level.

I decided to focus on Hotako, "Dual weild, huh?" I asked him.

He looked back at me as we walked. A look of curiousity on his face. "Hm? Yeah."

"...Mind me asking why you chose it?"

"Well, I'm a natural with swords, particularly dual wielding. Back in the real world, many people were impressed by my skills, especially when I used two... so... Yeah. ...So, what about you? Why did you choose the dual wield?"

"Well, I was beta tester..." I began. "...Long story short. I'm no good with a shield or two handed weapons."

"Heh, fair enough." He small grin was on his face as he said that.

The forest cleared shortly after our conversation. We walked across a meadow which quickly transformed into a barren wasteland as we got further. In the distance we saw a small village. Even smaller than Kazeogawa. All of the houses and buildings were completely made of wood and almost all of them seemed to have noticeable damage to them. I felt like I was walking into a wild west movie from the 80s.

Also in the distance, I saw several dark entities, all of them on their fours. That must've been Takera and the wolves which accompanied the boss.

I began to feel uneasy as we approached the entrance to the village. I wasn't adjusted to being in a party, and the fact that any screw ups could kill someone didn't help at all.

We reached the center of the village, where we faced off with the wolves. Takera was large, the size of an SUV – No, it was bigger than that. The boss' fur spiked out, it seemed as if you could've stabbed someone with it. The fur was also jet black and it's eyes were dark ominous golden color.

The at the sides of our target were much less intimidating, with vibrant blue eyes and gray fur. However, all of them let out a deep growl as we had encountered them.

The strategy was simple. The larger teams would attack Takera while the smaller ones would hold off the other wolves. Touten shouted out all the orders. Everything was going completely fine, I was surprised.

Hotako and I were back to back for large amount of time, unleashing various combos upon the wolves. The more I fought, the more assurance came over me. No one seemed to be in any extreme danger, and I didn't have to worry about my back. Fighting in a party didn't seem so bad.

Tadashi kept close to us, and he showed greater use of his shield more than anything else. He used it more than just to defend, he would slam it into the wolves. Said wolves would often collide into each other. He didn't output much damage, but he was taking off a lot of pressure from everyone in the battle.

Nikota especially surprised me, she was short and slender. But, she carried the war hammer she wielded like a brute. She was completely annihilating anything that contemplated on attacking her. Yet, at the same time, she casted a healing spell on a person every now and then. I had never heard of a healer with hammer, much less one with as much damage output she made. It wasn't as high as Hotako's or mine but it was still impressive.

Just as we cleared out the wolves, Takera's health bar finally turned red. That's when Touten decided to call off the attack. Almost everyone looked back at in confusion.

"Hmph, I'll finish this!" He shouted, a large smirk on his face. He gripped his blade tightly and raised his shield as he darted directly for the werewolf. I knew what he wanted, he wanted the last-hit drop that game rewarded when defeating a boss.

Then, Takera's claws suddenly became much longer, probably almost a foot out. They looked sharp, like katanas. The wolf's intimidating golden eyes became bloodthirsty red. To top it all off, several wolves had respawned next to the boss. They had developed features just like Takera.

"What?..." I looked in disbelief, talking to myself. "That's not what's supposed to happen!..." In the beta, Takera had done none of that. The boss would only have begun thrashing it's body around more violently, and refuse to flinch from heavy attacks that players threw at it. This... this was completely unexpected.

All of the wolves leaped into the air and began to twist their bodies rapidly, with insane speed really. They had reached such unbelievable velocity that their bodies looked like tornadoes. And they all went for Touten, who had aggro'd them all.

My eyes widened, "TOUTEN! GET OUT OF THERE!" I shouted. But, it was too late. The wolves all slammed into his shield, through it, and into his chest, with pinpoint accuracy. Somehow, he had managed to keep his footing for a small while, but he was skidding back rapidly. The large claws of all the wolves then quickly slid through his body. Suddenly, the attack stopped, the wolves seemed bounce backwards and stopped spinning. Touten, however, was sent flying back before tumbling across the dusty ground.

I ran towards him. Out of instinct, I ran. I didn't know what I could've done for him, but I felt I needed to go over there. When my HUD locked onto his avatar, he had very little health left, and what health was left was quickly depleting from a bleed effect. There was giant glowing hole in the center of his chest. The game used these glowing indications rather than blood. "...Damnit!... Why did you go for the item by youself!?" I asked him.

He had a small smirk on his face, one a person would wear when they know that they have failed. "Heh, I don't know..." He looked at me. "I'm sorry, kid. I guess, I just got too cocky?..." He closed his eyes.

I felt a heavy feeling in my chest, one of great sadness. I didn't know Touten personally at all. Did I feel this way because I knew a human being was dying in front of me? Is this what it's like to be in a war, seeing your allies die? My mind became cluttered with these questions.

"Just... finish what I started. Will you?" He asked. I nodded at him. "Good..." His health bar was completely empty. His body began to fade as shards of data began to break off and float into the air before dissipating. Suddenly, his entire body shattered into these data shards which quickly disappeared.

I looked towards the group of players, who were all either staring where Touten just laid or at the boss in complete shock.

_Did he really just die? Are we supposed to continue like this? How many people will have to share his fate? Will I lose people I love, my friends, because of this game? _I asked myself.

Suddenly, it felt as if my mind was sent to another place. And all I saw was darkness. _The answer to all of these questions is yes. _That was Tadakiro's voice! _I've taken an interest in you... Alexan. I wasn't expecting anyone but my son to choose the dual-wield skill. But, I don't exactly have the time to talk to you for long. Are you just going to stand there, and let more people die?_

Without thinking, I grasped the swords in both of my hands tightly. I launched myself towards Takera. I let out battle cry as I did so. I darted past everyone as I approached the boss.

Takera swiped it's paw diagonally at me, threatening to slash me to ribbons. I brought my sword to block all of the claws of the beast and still ran closer. I let out one more battle cry as I brought the sword in my right hand upwards, at the chin of the wolf. I exerted enough force to lift the beast off the ground, however, I lost a decent amount of SP.

SP, or Soul Points was the energy used to perform powerful combos in the or to perform tasks that your character would not usually be able to do. Lifting a boss off it's feet at level 13 was obviously one of those things.

Suddenly, I blanked out yet again. _Ah, very impressive. But, you'll need to keep it up. I want to see what you're truly capable of, Alexan. Harder. Fight harder._

As I was brought back into reality, I saw the airborne wolf began to spin. It was going to do the exact same thing to me as it had done to Touten. At the that very moment the smaller ones charged at me with their claws. I couldn't counter it all, but I knew I could die here.

Suddenly, out of the corners of my eyes I saw Tadashi ram his shield into the wovles that were to my left, pushing them back and Nikota bringing her hammer towards another wolf towards my right. The lot of them were sent tumbling into each other and the ground.

Takera was headed straight for me. Just moments before it's claws would make contact with my chest, I spun on my side, narrowly missing the attack. I felt my heart waver, but I couldn't let my counter-attack do so as well. I brought both of my swords to the side of the beast. The force of the spinning wolf was so great that I was sent skidding back. However, Takera's attack was canceled due to my own and fell to the ground, rolling across the dusty soil.

Everyone had looked at me in amazement, except for those who were in my party. In fact, Hotako darted right past me, towards the large wolf. I, of course, followed him closely. Just like in the beta, Takera made wild and rapid movements, much different from when the creature had a decent amount of health.

Hotako and I were able to see the attack pattern's, and dodged all of it's attacks. We seemed to move and attack in unison, bringing the wolf's health down lower and lower.

Just when it seemed as if we had finally won the battle and Takera only needed to take several hits at most before dying, it thrashed itself to it's side. Which it had been doing all this time, however, it began to spin in the middle of it's attack. My eyes opened widely as the side of the beast rammed into Hotako's torso, sending him flying back. The wolf had targeted me specifically yet again. It was too close towards me to pull off a dodge, so put both of my swords in front of my body.

It's spinning claws landed exactly on the edge of my blade, creating an impressive display of sparks. I grinded my teeth and held my ground, but the force of the attack caused me to skid back.

_I can't lose here...! I need to beat this game! _I let out a battle cry, forcing my blades forward, only to see that Takera's attack broke through my guard. It's claws smashing into my chest plate.

I found it much harder to keep my footing. SoulBound Online allowed the user to feel the pain of all the effects that happened to you, only they were "watered down", but, despite that, the pain I had felt was greater than anything I had ever felt. Through my HUD I saw my health dropping fast.

I blacked out once again. I looked around in the dark space, waiting to hear Tadakiro's voice. But, nothing happened.

_You don't sound so confident... _That was Sasha's voice!

"Sasha?!" I called out.

Nobody responded.

_Those were the eyes of finally finding someone you love..._

"Nikota?..." I looked around yet again.

_You can't blame yourself!... ...If you don't believe in yourself..._

Goosebumps shot up my spine. From the beginning I had failed to believe in myself... And now this is the situation I am in? Was this what it was like when people were about to die? I looked down at my feet.

_Well, don't worry. We'll manage just fine._

One of the last things I had told Sasha... I knew that I really couldn't die here. The thought of her thinking that I was a liar, and the heartbreak she would feel if I was gone.

_You gotta believe in yourself, you know?_

I looked up. Nikota's words stuck harder than they did the night she told them to me. If I died here, it would've all have been because I didn't believe in myself! I couldn't let that happen!

I saw glowing silver orb in front of me. I reached out and grabbed it. My grip on it tightened until it shattered, my doubts and worries shattering with it.

_...How will you even live to confirm your fears!?_

I came back into reality at the moment. I felt a burst of energy being released from my body, and it seemed Takera no longer had the power to keep pushing me back nor cause my health bar to decline any further. I glared at the beast. Although I didn't realize it at the time, my hair had turned completely silver. I stood up completely straight, the spinning wolf failing to phase me.

"I won't confirm my fears..." I spoke quietly yet sharply. "I will prove them wrong!" At that moment, my HUD alerted me of a new skill I had learned. I had no idea what it would have done, but it was my best bet.

"Soul Ignition: Level One!" I shouted, since activating the more special skills in the game were done vocally. The skill had also let out an actual burst of energy from my body, canceling Takera's attack and completely breaking the wolf's stance. It was left completely unguarded.

I felt stronger, and more energized. Despite the fact my SP levels began to decrease somewhat rapidly, I felt invincible. A large and rather visible glowing green aura developed around my body. My hair color changed yet again to match the shade of green.

I leaped forward, grasping the hilts of both of my swords as tightly as I could. "Gliding Fury!" I shouted out another skill name. I brought both of my swords towards the torso of the wolf simultaneously, before breaking out into a combo of multiple slashes.

Just as it seemed that my combo was about to end, leaped yet again with an immense amount of force. I literally glided and sliced right through Takera.

I heard the shattering noise of data that could be heard whenever something or someone would die. I fell to my knees as the Soul Ignition Skill wore off. I placed my hands on the ground to keep me up as I was trying to catch my breath. I had completely depleted my SP in that single attack.

A notification came up in front of me, telling me I was given the last-hit item. I looked at it in a bit of surprise, I had completely forgotten I would've gotten the item. It was called "Raider's Coat".

I heard murmurs throughout the crowd as I stood up. I stood up and walked over to my party.

"Are you okay, Hotako?" I asked him.

"I should be asking you that question," His eyes were wide with surprise, but something seemed off about them. I let a moment of silence pass before my next question.

"... Why didn't you tell me you were Tadakiro's son?" I asked him, a bit more quietly this time. His eyes grew even wider with surprise, he couldn't deny it now if he wanted to.

"... Does it make you feel any better that I don't have the option to log out either?" He looked down.

"You expect me to believe he trapped his own son in a game for his amusement?"

"... It's too complicated to explain now."

Then to my surprised, I heard someone accuse me.

"You!..." A boy with reddish, spiky hair pointed at me. You knew the bosses attack patterns, even after it transformed!" He shouted at me. "And that... thing!... you pulled off!"

I looked back at Hotako, "I'll believe you, for now." I began to walk towards the kid. "Yeah, what about it?"

"You have to be a beta tester..."

"Yes, I was a beta tester." My eyes softened a bit, I could see where this was going.

"Why didn't you save Touten then?! You obviously knew what the wolf was going to do!"

Despite the fact that this wasn't true, I played along. I even smirked. "Actually, you're wrong about one thing." I shrugged. "I didn't know it was going to aim for Touten."

"I've met you're type, just because you're a beta tester, you think you're better than everyone!"

I laughed softly, but maniacally. "I'm more than just a beta tester..." I glanced at everyone. "You all know it, the transformation I just went through, it wasn't like any skill any of you have in your roster."

"What are you implying?..."

"You honestly think I got that power fairly? No. In order to survive this game, I made my own little... 'adjustments'." I grinned.

"You hacked the game?!" Talk amongst the player began to escalate once more. "A beta tester and a cheater?!"

"Of course, I plan on living when this game has been beaten."

"You're a... You're a beater!"

I laughed yet again. "Beater?... I like the sound of that." I couldn't lie, it did sound a bit catchy.

"Why you!... I oughta-"

"You oughta what? I'm level 18 you know." I watched him grind his teeth. I began walking towards the edge of the village. Suddenly, I stopped. I opened up my inventory via my holographic interface, which allowed me to access all of my items. I equipped my new coat. A green stripe was across the torso of the coat, and the hem of it went as high as my mouth. There was nothing to close or seal the coat, so my face remained visible. I turned around. "I hope that I will see you all for the next seven bosses, and all of the bosses to come."

The guy with the red, spiky hair seemed angry but defeated. Tadashi didn't seem to be phased the slightest bit. Nikota looked at me with eyes of sadness, but understanding. I noticed two other people in the crowd. A rugged looking man with with very long black hair gave me a looked of approval. The other person was a girl, about my age. She had brown hair and green eyes, she looked at me with eyes that longed for something. And last but not least, Hotako. At first I thought he had lost enough respect for me that he couldn't even look at me. But then, he raised his arm and stuck his thumb up.

"Hmph." I smiled again, before walking off. My next destination was the new area that had been unlocked from beating Takera. Of course, next time it wouldn't be so easy. Next, we would need to beat seven bosses to unlock the following area, and eight boss each area on from that in order to progress further.

I didn't have any reason to worry though. I was a "Beater" after all.

|||Writer's Note|||

Yes, I used the same title as an Episode of Sword Art Online.  
What are you going to do about it?  
Why don't YOU write your completely original story about getting trapped in a video game?  
HMMMMMMMM?


	4. Chapter 4: A Tight Situation

Chapter 4: A Tight Situation

Three months had passed since the first boss battle in the game. Ever since said battle, the player base of SoulBound Online had begun plowing through bosses, finding eight more in the short time span we all have been in the game. This allowed all of us to roam throughout the first three sections of Rei.

Unfortunately, for me things were not so dandy. That day three months ago, I had been deemed a "Beater". I was a cheater, who had an advantage over everyone and a beta tester who was greedy. Most people wouldn't have dared to let me in their party and although many people at this point were in a guild, I was not. I didn't mind it all that much however. I did lead people to believe that I was nothing more than a Beater, and I always had preferred being a solo player.

As of now, however, I was completely surrounded by darkness. This reminded me much of the state of consciousness I had slipped in and out of while I was fighting Takera. The same orb of light even floated around the area. Although, this time the orb seemed different. It seemed to be dimmer and had the slightest tint of red to it.

"Alexan," That was Tadakiro's voice. I turned around, just to see him with his hands in his lab coat pockets. "You've sure made a name for yourself, an unnecessary one at that." He told me.

"Yes, yes I have. What does it matter?" I asked him, a bit of edge in my voice. To think that this was the man who trapped us all here, the reason why I've wasted almost 4 whole months of my life.

"It doesn't matter that much, at least not for now." He said, nonchalant. "Alexan, I believe you're one of the most interesting people in this game." He told me. "Tell me, is there anyone you know personally that plays this game?"

I thought it was strange he'd ask this of me, but I decided to cooperate. He didn't seem like the sympathetic type, but maybe he'd give me a lead on Sasha. "Yes, yes there is…"

"Then you may just be in luck, and get away a little from being public enemy one." He began. "I want to take a guess at this… Dark hair is right… Dark skin. Your eyes are actually black instead of green?"

I looked at him with a good amount of surprise, "…Brown eyes. How did you…?"

"Just as I programmed to the Interceptor to kill you when your avatar dies, I programmed it to induce every player into becoming more like themselves during the character creation." He shrugged.

"You made us act like ourselves…?"

He tapped his temple. "Creating the proper waves to influence serotonin production, the right amount can ridiculously increase self-esteem."

So, I could've found Sasha that easily?

"However, there are other things I need to discuss." Tadakiro sighed, "I've heard there's some kind of rumor running around saying that this is a hoax and you'll be saved. I find it amazing how much of player base believes this, despite how long you've all been trapped here." That much was true, there has been a rumor going around saying that. It had been ever since Touten died. "This is far from true," Tadakiro began. "None of you are leaving anytime soon by conventional means."

Several large holographic screens appeared behind Tadakiro. They were all either news channels or website pages of said news. One screen was a channel recording of a report talking about how many people have had the plugs pulled on their Interceptors and died. All of them were people playing SoulBound Online. Another screen which was a website article talked about how nobody has found the scientist and game developer who has held dozens of thousands of people prisoner inside a video game. Another website talked about how dozens of players had randomly had their hearts stopped, for apparently no reason.

"So, what? You came to me just to tell me all of this?" I asked him.

"Oh no, don't feel too special now. I'm visiting everyone like this, although, I do have something that I can only discuss with certain people, including yourself at the current moment." He told me.

"Oh, and what is that?" I questioned. There was a bit of edge in my voice. I couldn't help it; this man was the reason why we were stuck here. And, what I felt was most important even after four months, was that if anything had happened to Sasha, it would be all on his head.

"When you fought Takera, you discovered a certain… skill. Am I correct?"

_Soul Ignition: Level One!_

The moment echoed inside my head. "Yes, why are you asking?"

Tadakiro held out his hand. The orb of light which had helped me acquire that power way back when darted towards his open palm, and it seemed to rest there. The orb was even dimmer, and noticeably redder from the last time I saw it. "I'm giving you this opportunity right now in order take that power once more."

"…What's the catch?" I asked him. Even in a game, nobody is going to hand you out a free power up, at least not without some kind of stipulation.

"To be honest? I'm not sure myself," he told me. "SoulBound runs on a 'generator engine'. This means that there are countless amounts of variables in the game that I can only assume. Much like this," he looked at the small reddish orb. "This is your "Soul Skill" it is given to everyone whom has had their personalities thoroughly analyzed. Naturally, those who played the beta are more likely unlock this power." He tossed the orb at me. I caught it with both of my hands. "As I said, I don't know much about the side effects. In game, they will automatically have some sort of debuff. Perhaps immediately taking out a chunk of your health? Or maybe cause it to decline slowly but indefinitely as you use it? Maybe it's a rapid Soul Point degenerate. Could make you blind for as long as you use it." He listed the various things that just seemed to come from the top of his mind. "But, you should already know that, shouldn't you?"

I stared at the orb, not completely sure what to think. This power could help me, take me out of sticky situations. But then again, what if I used it at the wrong time? I knew that the skill was an SP degenerate, but what would happen if I used it without any SP?

"So, Alexan. What is your answer?" Tadakiro asked.

I was quiet for a small moment. I was looking down at the orb for the duration of the silence. "No… I don't want it." I looked up at Tadakiro. "It saved my life once, that's all I needed it for."

I saw that his eyes had softened at my response. I wasn't completely sure what he could've been thinking at that moment. "Very well, but, if you ever change your mind. Just imagine yourself here. You'll know what to do." He turned around, about to walk off.

"Wait!" I called out. I didn't really expect him to stop, but to my surprise he did. "Why do this? Trap dozens of thousands of people inside a game?" I asked him.

"There isn't much I can tell you," He started. "But here is what I can. One of the reasons for me doing this is my son."

Hotako was one of his reasons? But, why bother bringing him here? Or maybe Hotako was just a better liar than I suspected and was completely apart of this whole charade.

"The second reason," he turned around to face me. "I believe the second reason is you, Alexan."

Before I could reply, I had awoken in my bed. I sat up as fast as possible, as if I had some sort of nightmare. I looked outside the Inn window, sighing. "Did all of that actually happen?..." I asked myself. I sat in bed, in silence. I was truly beginning to think about my situation because of this dream. I was stuck in a game; my best friend's life could easily have been exterminated at any given moment.

Fortunately, this only made me realize one thing. I had come so far, virtually all on my own as well. I had to find Sasha, I had to beat this game.

I got out of bed and swiped my right hand through the air, accessing my menu. Just like every other day, the "Log-Out" button was blank, inaccessible. I prodded the "Inventory" button, accessing my armour, weapons, and spoils from battle. I prodded multiple items from the menu, equipping them. Ever since I had beaten Takera, I kept up the long coat look. The coat I had currently was much like the first one, black with a large hem and it had no zippers or buttons. Single green stripes started at the end of my hem and went down each of my shoulders. Underneath I wore black cotton shirt. My pants were black, and looked like they should've been used for formal events. I also wore black Combat boots. Then, there were my weapons, the dual swords. Both of the swords were of European design, and quite heavy. They were each in the neighborhood of 20kg. Although the outfit as a whole didn't seem like much, it actually provided a decent amount protection, and it was very flexible and light weight. It fit my fighting style perfectly.

I left the Inn and set out to find a place to eat breakfast. I would need to find an NPC restaurant. Although the food wasn't as good as food made by most players this point in the game, I was pretty much forced to. Most people knew to watch out for someone with dark skin, brown hair, and two swords. People would only need to see me to know I was the infamous "Beater".

After I had gotten breakfast, I noticed a large amount of people were almost like in a comatose state, as if they were afraid of something. It couldn't have been me, even with my reputation. Almost no one even glanced at me. It may have been morally questionable, but I activated my listening skill. It was an active skill that everyone had the ability to use, and like most skills, it improved the more you had used it. I was forced to improve it a great deal, since I was not often invited meetings before boss battles, but would be criticized for not showing up to said battles. I used it to eavesdrop on meetings, so I'd have an idea to as what everyone was thinking when fighting the boss. Was it a bit drastic that they would do this to me, allow me to die during each boss battle? Perhaps it was, however, I made them believe I was nothing more than an unrespectable cheater, a greedy beta tester.

"…So, it wasn't just a dream?" I heard woman whisper.

"I guess not." A man said. "We all saw Tadakiro in our dreams…"

"You saw Tadakiro too?" Another woman.

"Does this mean we really can't escape?"

"We're really stuck here!?"

"Do you know how long it will take to beat this game?..."

I heard the countless amounts of complaints people had. This also meant that my dream about Tadakiro was real.

Before I could think anymore, I heard dozens of screams, quite clearly thanks to my listening skill. I may have wanted people to think I was a bad guy, but that didn't mean I was. I ran towards the shouts and screams as fast as I could. Between my gear, and my stats being tailored to speed, agility, and dexterity; I was easily able to run at speeds of 30km/h. Within two minutes, I had arrived at scene.

It was a market raid, I saw a bunch of heavily armed players sacking goods and attacking helpless people. They all wore black and white armour, indicating they were in a guild. An infamous one at that, those were the colors of the "Skull Raiders" guild. They were a PvP guild that basically stole everything they wanted. That would've probably been the only kind of guild to ever accept me, a beater, but, I would never. And, I certainly would never stand for this.

I darted towards the closest Skull Raider attacking who was attacking someone. I pulled both of my swords and sent the right one into his chest through a slash. The attack sent him airborne and tumbling across the ground. A few of his friends had noticed me. So, of course they all had charged at me. They all used some sort skill, judging from the fact that all of their weapons were glowing. They had attacked me simultaneously. All of their attacks failed to faze me, but did more damage than I had thought they would. When they had all finished using their skills, they looked at me, intimidated. Now that I actually caught a look, five of them had come to attack me; one with a two handed sword, two with two handed axes, and two more with shields and swords. They had only taken out half of my health. Not to mention, my health was quickly regenerating.

"Mind me asking what levels you guys are?" I asked them.

They all glanced at each other, all saying numbers in the mid and high 30s.

"Funny, I'm level 54." I told them, nonchalant. This was one of the perks of being solo in this game. You never had parties to slow you down. Although between the bonuses the game gave you and the ability to take monsters out quicker with a party, the experience you gained leveled out. But, in my case, you could go out whenever you wanted, as often as you wanted, as long as you had the resources. Not to mention, traveling in numbers made people feel safer, made them feel they had to train less. I didn't have that luxury.

In response to my comment, they all made grunts of discomfort and surprise. After completely surrounding me they decided to charge at me again, activating their skills once more. I ducked beneath most of their attacks, the two handed weapons colliding with each other and canceling the skills. The ones with the single handed swords, however, still had to opportunity to attack me, which they took. I simply brought my swords to parry theirs, slashing the shins of two others while doing so.

As the two I had injured stumbled out from the cluster I was in, it allowed me to stand amongst the other three. I immediately spun on my right heel, sending my blades towards the three's remaining torsos. They were all left stumbling back as well.

Now that I had breathing space, I moved in on the two whose shins I had cut. One had the axe while the other had a sword, and they both got ready to bring their weapons down upon me. My swords crossed above my chest. They both began to glow white. I extended both of my arms to their corresponding sides; in the process I had parried both of the incoming attacks. My superior stats and the fact I was using a skill allowed me to break through their attacks and slice their torsos. Once more the power of my attack had sent them tumbling across the ground.

When I looked behind me, I had seen that the others who tried to attack me were hesitant to confront me much more. I didn't have time to play sadistic though. I immediately scanned the area with my eyes. I saw that every Skull Raider in the area had pretty much put their attention on me. I watched multiple innocents scramble to their feet and successfully escape.

Although, something had really caught my eye, there was a small girl on her knees, her weapon the ground. She was wearing Skull Raider colors.

"My, my, the famous Beater has come to save the day," A mocking tone let out. "What do we owe this honor?" I turned to where I had heard the voice. It was the leader of the Skull Raiders. His armour was primarily white with a black trim, inverted from everyone else in the guild. He was also one of the only people in the guild without a helmet.

I spun the sword in my right hand in between my fingers, "You're running this show, huh?"

"I am, and I'll be willing to forget that you almost killed six of my men… if you join us?"

I frowned, "And why would you want me to join you?"

He gave me a gesture. "Because we're that not much different. Neither of us are respected by the people in this game… however, we have the power to take whatever we want." He then gestured at the entire area, as if saying I could have all that's around me.

I stopped spinning my sword, gripping it tightly, "And what if I told you to screw off?" My eyes softened as my look at him turned into more of a glare.

He frowned, "Then I suppose I have no choice but to kill you." He pointed at me, "Kill him." He commanded. I looked around to see just who would confront me. Everyone I had injured dared no to approach me, as just a few more blows from me could kill them. However, there were still about nine more guys willing to confront me. I watched them all raise their weapons and launch a frontal assault against me.

I watched them all charge at me as I activated a skill. Both of my swords glowed green as I moved forward at my top speed, faster than any human could achieve in real life. I let out a battle cry just moments before collision. Once in range, I began lashing out my swords wildly and furiously. The first guy I attacked was extremely unlucky, taking multiple slashes to the chest within seconds.

However, my goal wasn't to kill anyone, so I quickly transitioned to the target on my left and continued lashing out. He had out his weapon, another Two-handed axe, to block all of my incoming attacks. The thing was, my attacks had such power that strike after strike directly upon the weapon caused it to break.

Then, I felt something slash my back, my side, and something else impale me from the same side. The pain was extremely minor because of the level difference, but I couldn't let that misguide me. I quickly spun around, ducking as I did so. This allowed me to dodge any incoming attack before I made a short leap to my next target; the farthest of my three attackers, who was slightly off balanced from attacking me.

I was able to break the guard he attempted to make with a single blow and unleashed hell upon him afterwards. The guy was sent flying across the market square as I felt several more attacks land on me. I actually began to break a sweat, seeing that my health had already fallen to around 25% percent.

Fortunately, I wasn't quite done yet. As I finished the skill, I suddenly dashed past two of my attackers, much faster than I run at top speed. As I did this, I whipped both of my swords out, completely wiping the floor with the two attackers. Although the skill should've finished, the fading glow of the skill suddenly flared and kept that glow as a noise similar to that of a turbo-charged car shifting gears seemed to emanate from the swords.

It was at that moment; I unleashed a whole chain of dashes just like the one I had performed. Six more to be exact. Each dash was designated to a remaining Skull Raider. I would only pause for the slightest moment between dashes before attacking my next target. None of them could touch me.

I stood up, finished with my barrage of attacks. I stuck one of my swords into the ground as I accessed one of my hotkeys. The stronger of the two types of health potions I had in my possession appeared in my hand. After drinking it my health went back up to around 80%, still regenerating on its own.

It was obvious the leader of the guild was on edge, after all, I had single handedly taken down 15… or was it 16…? Regardless, I kicked his guild's ass all on my own. It took quite a bit of effort, and even more SP to pull off. Although, it probably didn't matter that much considering I was almost done.

"There's something that's been bothering me for a small while," I turned my head, looking at the girl who hadn't moved from her spot since the last time. She returned a flabbergasted look, as if I were a ghost. "You're recruiting kids?"

I heard him mutter something to himself, a bit frustrated before answering me, "Her? She was helpless on her own, we offered her protection."

I sighed, turning back to him, "In return for service…"

"Regardless," he gestured casually. "That's how I work. And, you had a good deal Beater, too bad you threw it away."

"And what, you're going to kill me yourself?" I tilted my head at him. I couldn't believe that he would think that he'd actually be strong enough.

"If you want something done," He grabbed the hilt of whatever weapon was on his back. "You gotta do it yourself!" He pulled out a massive battle hammer, battle ready.

Apparently, he was crazy enough to believe that, "Alright then, you asked for it," I darted towards him as fast as I could, bringing the sword in my right hand down on him once I was in range. To my surprise, he stopped my attack dead in its tracks with that hammer of his. I quickly spun on my heel clockwise, sending both of my swords towards his side.

The thing was, he had the same idea. I felt his hammer slam into my spinal cord, forcing me to let out a "Gwagh!" I hadn't felt pain like that since I had fought Takera. I was sent rolling across the ground. That single hit had taken out 20% of my health. This had meant he was much stronger than his buddies. It wouldn't have been surprising if he were around my level with that amount of power.

I stood up, gripping my swords tightly. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, "I underestimated you…" I told him. All he did was smirk at me. "But don't get cocky yet."

Dashing towards him yet again, I raised both of my swords. They began to glow orange as I leaped towards him, spinning in the air as I sent both of them at him. He had parried my attack with his hammer, and for a split second it had seemed that everything was still. The force of his attack overwhelmed my own, pushing me back brining me a bit. It had also adjusted my body to the point my back was parallel with the ground, more or less.

My neck touching my collar bone, I tried to get a look at his next move. I saw him bringing his hammer up from the ground, launching an uppercut. I spun around in mid air, moving both of my blades so they were crossed on top of my chest. Just as my weapons began to glow white the hammer had landed an impact on them. I attempted to use the skill I activated to gain leverage, trying to lash out both of my swords. The two blades grinded against the head of the hammer as my position in the air seemed to become stationary.

Our attacks had completely canceled each other out, and the use of my skill had only pushed me farther into the air.

I needed a way to take this guy out before he killed me. His tremendous amount of strength indicated that his dexterity and agility were more than likely to be low. Yet, his reaction time is may have implied otherwise. Perhaps he was a higher level than me? That sure would've been surprising.

I landed on the ground, not really with any time to keep thinking.

The guild leader laughed quietly, "It seems the Beater has met his match." He gripped his weapon tightly as he charged at me.

I clenched my teeth, actually feeling completely on edge. This guy had the potential to kill me, but, I couldn't let him.

I crossed both of my swords in front of me yet again. I couldn't play around anymore; I had to give all I had. Again, both of my swords began to glow white. I noticed that he was holding his hammer much like a sword, ready to thrust it at me. Just moments before our weapons collided, I noticed that his hammer had started to glow orange.

He let out a battle cry at same time I shouted, "Fanning Slash!" The skill's power was much more intense from the last two times I had used it. During the collision of our weapons, a small shockwave was let out from the energy of our skills. A small cloud of dust circled around us. White and orange sparks formed from my blades grinding against the head of his hammer.

Our attacks had managed to cancel each other out, this left both of us stumbling back, completely off balanced. I let myself stumble, and pushed forward the moment I had any stability in my legs. It seemed that his large, heavy hammer wasn't working in his favor.

I raised both of my swords as they began to glow orange. I leaped at him, spinning clockwise as I sent both swords towards his side. To my amazement he managed to parry this as well, sloppily spinning on his heel and bringing his hammer to my swords.

However, things were starting to turn into my favor. I had managed to knock him even more off balance with my attack. I landed on the ground, both of my swords glowing red. I moved forward, shouting, "Unlimited Blade!" I sent slash after slash after slash at his exposed torso. Countless glowing red lines appeared on his abdomen and chest. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. I had landed an uncountable amount of blows on him in a matter of a few seconds.

My prediction was right unfortunately, with the amount of health he had lost—which was about half of it-he was definitely around my level if not higher. But, that didn't matter, as of that moment he couldn't do anything and I needed to finish him off.

Both of my swords began to glow green, "Gliding Fury!" Again, this was much more powerful as to when compared to the last time I used it on his goons. I unleashed a massive combo of slashes, although it wasn't as dramatic as Unlimited Blade. Just when I seemed finished, I dashed past him with insane speed, both of my blades slicing through him. I knew that he'd still have enough health to keep on wanting to fight back.

Suddenly, fatigue came over me. I hadn't been paying attention to the remaining SP I had and the bar was almost completely empty now. I suddenly had the great need to catch my breath and I couldn't move.

The time needed to catch my breath was way too much. Before I could get my head straight something blunt, hard, and heavy slammed into my head. The hammer. I was sent tumbling across the market square at a good speed before crashing into a stand. Broken wooden planks and fruit ended up in places that those items should have ended up in.

Of course, I had a bigger problem than that. My HUD sight was now completely tinted red, my health bar was around 15%, also being red. My low SP wouldn't allow me to make a proper escape, and being buried in fruit and wood didn't let access my hotkeys.

"That's it…" I heard that he was out of breath as well, probably more out of anger than anything else. "I'm gonna kill you, Beater!"

I pushed myself up from debris, still breathing heavily. I had almost no health, I had no SP, and I saw the guy charging at me. His hammer began to glow white as he swung it at me.

I attempted to activate the lowest SP consuming skill in my arsenal as I swung the sword in my right hand to parry his attack. To my amazement and luck, it worked. My sword glowed yellow split-seconds before impact. "Deep Cut!"

Unfortunately, my attempts did stop his skill from completely overpowering my own. My sword had completely shattered just after our weapons collided. I managed to move past him without taking a hit. I rolled across the ground yet again, out of my own fatigue.

No health, no SP, no weapon. Was I going to die here?


	5. Chapter 5: Sleeping Beauty?

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted anything in two months... Well, that shouldn't happen anymore.

From now on, I'll try pumping one or two of these out a week.

Wish me luck.

Chapter 5: Sleeping Beauty?

I accessed the SP potions in my hot keys. I knew I wouldn't have enough time to escape after drinking it, if I could even drink it at all… But, I had to do something. I couldn't go down without a fight.

As the potion appeared in my hand I heard the guild leader say, "It's too late for that now, Beater…" I heard him grunt afterwards, and I shoved the potion in the mouth as fast as I could. To my extreme surprise, I hadn't died by the time I finished the potion! Having around 40 percent of my SP back, I picked myself up and darted as fast as I could outside of his attack range.

I made a sharp turn, heading back towards my opponent. I saw something else surprising; the small girl I noticed earlier had stabbed him in the back. Next thing I knew, he had elbowed her in the face, causing her to stumble. He proceeded to slam the hammer into her while shouting, quite literally sending her flying.

I swapped my remaining sword into my left hand. The sword began to glow a deep purple as I entered his attack range. Obviously, announcing my attack would only warn him that I was next to him, so I dealt with the limited power. I slashed him across his upper rib cage from the side. I saw him look towards me, but he wouldn't have the chance to counter. I was already spinning on my heel, sending a second slash across his torso. I switched to my other heel, still spinning as I launched an uppercut. It was just enough power to send him airborne.

My sword began to glow white, the turbo sound occurring once more.

"No, Wait!" He pleaded.

"Graceful Finish!" I leaped past him, sending my sword right through him with an incredible amount of speed. I began to pant lightly, and seconds after I heard sound of something shattering. I turned around to see that his avatar was nothing but shards of data. "…I killed him?"

A screen popped up in front of me, awarding me all the exp he had gained during the time he spent on his current level with a 5,600 bonus (100 exp points per level). My inventory was also now filled with his valuables (and not so valuables) that he had on him. I had leveled up myself, but, I would deal with allocating my stats later, as I had much on my mind.

I honestly had no intent on killing anyone in this game, but, it seemed that could no longer be helped. I didn't necessarily feel bad for him, but, some form of guilt had formed in my chest. I actually had killed someone. Regardless of the fact he had probably killed so many people himself… It just didn't feel right.

However, my morals at the moment shouldn't have been my main concern as of the moment. All of the Skull Raiders seemed to ditch the area, all afraid of them afraid of dying. Except for the girl that didn't even seem to be a part of the raid in the first place and who had also saved my life. Her body wasn't a bunch of data that dissipated into the air, so she was obviously still alive.

I sheathed my sword, walking towards her. She was still on the ground, which worried me a bit as well. I kneeled over her, "Hey…" I looked at her health bar; it was around 10% health. She was obviously out cold.

I had to hand it to Tadakiro, emulating so many feelings into the game such as sleep, blushing, and pain. He was even able to emulate stuff like this, being knocked out. Judging from how much health she lost in just two hits, she wasn't all that strong. But, I couldn't and wouldn't leave her out here. I would've at least liked to know why she saved my life.

I picked her up 'princess-style' and decided bring her back to my room in the inn. I could've only imagined how much more sketchy that would have sounded had I said it out loud. I sighed, as I began to walk once more, to the inn.

On my way back, I noticed that a significant amount of people seemed to have gone inside their homes and various other buildings. Most of the people who had remained outside seemed to be weeping. They must've been able to kill a good portion of the City Guard…

Once I was in my room, I placed her on my bed. None of her health had regenerated, that must've been a side effect of being knocked unconscious. Swiping my hand through the air, I opened up my menu once more. I prodded "Inventory", accessing my wide arrange of items. My inventory had also notified me of all of the goods that I had recently gotten. I scrolled through until I found my "Book of First Aid." That was actually how most skills were learned in the game, through books. Of course, I never cared for any of them except this one, as knowing how to heal myself would let me leave some money in my pocket and keep me alive on the battlefield.

Naturally, the book also had tips that you couldn't know without reading the book. I had only needed it for healing wounds, but there were also remedies for debuffs, unconsciousness hopefully being one of them.

I flipped through the pages of the book until I found what I wanted. I skimmed through it very quickly. It basically explained how sleep in the game was quite literally forced upon you when taking a massive blow – most likely to the head. I continued to skim until I found things that would actually help. I had found that much like in real life something with a strong enough smell could awaken her. I also found that in order to promote health regeneration I had to strip her –

Oh god.

I continued to read to find that I actually only had to take her armour off. I honestly didn't find that to be much better. It seemed so awkward for me do.

I closed the book, looking at the girl. "This is by far the sketchiest thing I've done in my life," I muttered to myself. It shouldn't have been that hard, right? While someone sleeps, you could just lift their right arm and put it back down to open their menu.

I felt my face get hot from the thought of it. Why was I becoming so nervous? It wasn't like I was actually stripping her naked.

I needed to take deep breaths at this point; in and out. Now, I had to stop being a pansy and take her armour off. I couldn't believe I was about to do this, judging from her body, she must've been like eleven!

I spent a good fifteen minutes, debating with myself if I should do it, and I just decided to say, "Screw it. I'll do it." I walked over to the right side of the bed, lifted her arm and placed it back down, opening the menu in the process. I went to "Character", which showed the armour she had on and her weapon. I noticed something rather strange when I did so. Her level displayed at the top left, it was only 23. She was pretty behind at this point in the game…

Regardless, I simply needed to hit the "Remove Equipment" button, and her armour would vanish, going into her inventory.

When I did, I was greeted by a rather… large surprise, two of them actually! "Woah, Holy—!" Her chastity wasn't something you exactly saw every day, especially not on a girl of her size. "How is that even?..." I blinked a few times.

It took me a good two minutes to realize I had been staring at her breasts the whole time. My only plausible excuse? Well… her health was regenerating. I turned around and sat on floor, against the bed, sighing.

"What are you trying to do, kill me?" I wasn't quite sure if I was asking my brain or Tadakiro that, but I assumed it was safe to say both were to blame. Seriously, what if she woke up to me staring at her breasts? That wouldn't have boded well for me. Not to mention how creepy I'd seem. I let out a long sigh.

I stood up, turning back around. I hit the "X" on her menu and it closed out. "I guess I should find something to wake you up, huh?" I looked at her, noticing her facial features. She definitely would've been able to play the role for a kid if it weren't for her massive—back on track; she had very innocent and round looking face with long black hair.

I returned to the book that was in my hand, flipping through the pages. There should've been a cure for just about everything, and the book should have told me.

I found that it was a plant named the "Mazame Flower". The flower alone could be used to wake someone up, but the chances were greater when it's brewed into a potion. The book also said it could be found in hilly areas. I knew such an area was the setting for one of the previous boss battles, and of course the boss there had respawned, but I was a high enough level to solo it.

The area was a while away, but I wanted answers sooner than later. I looked at the girl one last time, "Well, I'm off." I walked out the inn room, and towards a teleportation platform, which allowed me to teleport to any town I pleased.

Naturally, one thing led to another and I ended up in fields where I needed to be. "Herbalism, it can't be that hard right?" I roamed over to a field of bright pink rose-like flowers. "Ah…" I went down to pick a single flower. The flower's stem snapped off with ease. However, the flower began to glow red and shattered afterwards. "You can't be…" I grabbed another flower and the same thing happened. Again. And Again. "You can't be serious!" I started grabbing handfuls of flowers at a time at this point. Red shards of data started to fly everywhere. "Just my luck!"

I let out a deep sigh as I fell back, and pretty much just looked into the sky. "Stupid skill…" I muttered. Since it couldn't be helped, I decided that it'd probably be best just to head back to the inn. There's a chance that she could've woken up by now anyways.

At that moment, I heard very deep, and scratchy shouts from over the hill I was on. I looked towards where they came from after standing up. "Goblins…."

I saw dozens of small green humanoid figures. They probably heard my little fit just now. "Huh…" Then, a larger figure came out among them. Extremely skinny with pale blue skin. It was the third boss that was taken out but the player of SoulBound Online. Tokan the Troll King. Seeing the mobs made me smirk, "Well, at least I didn't come here for no reason." I unsheathed my sword. "Let's go."

The mass of goblins ran after me as I activated a skill, my blade turning blue. I ran at them, ready for battle.

I took a deep breath as the troll shattered in shards of data, quickly dissipating. "Now… That wasn't so hard." A window came up in front of me, showing my earnings. The exp was decent and the money was great, however, something really caught my eye.

Two Mazame Flowers.

My eyes went wide as a big smile appeared on my face. "Right on! Who says violence doesn't pay?" I fist-pumped the air.

It was probably smart to ask someone to make them into potions first. I couldn't make them myself, and I didn't know about any quests that could possibly help me with that. So, for once, I needed to take risk and ask other players.

I spent the rest of the day in the town near the hills, asking various people if they'd be willing to do such a task for me.

And of course, I got only the reactions I expected. None of them wanted to do anything with a Beater like myself. I was honestly a little surprised, considering there were many players in the area that I was sure I had never saw before. I was truly infamous.

At that point, I cut my losses and simply returned to the inn. I saw that sun had already finished setting by the time I arrived.

I sighed as I lugged myself back into the room, the girl had apparently still been knocked out all this time. I unequipped my coat, sword and shoes. I also grabbed the two flowers from my inventory. "I swear if this doesn't work…" I placed the first flower near the girl's nose. It became red and shattered.

I waited for the unconscious effect to disappear from her health bar. It didn't.

"C'mon, you have to work…" I basically told the second flower. I placed it near her nose, only to see it turn red and shatter as well. I just stood the for a moment, not even saying anything.

I took a pillow off of my bed and decided to go to sleep on the floor.

I was rudely awakened by a very high pitched scream and something falling right on my chest. "Eh!?" I opened my eyes, only to be face to face with the girl I spent all day yesterday trying to wake up. She yelped and jumped back, obviously blushing.

She placed her hands close to her chest, being a sincere, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, to startle you like that! It's just that I didn't know where I was and I saw you in here and I panicked! And... And…"

"Woah, calm down. You don't have to apologize for anything." I told her. I had never seen someone react to me like this.

"Oh, right sorry! I mean… if I don't have to be sorry for anything… I uh…"

"Slow down. How about we start off with names?"

"My name is Miya!" She said, cheerful.


End file.
